Knowledge's Leadership
by FawnstarWarriors
Summary: Amberkit isn't like the other kits. She doesn't want to play. She doesn't want to leave the comfort of her den. She doesn't even want to become an apprentice! When her clan is threatened by disasters soon to come, the young she-cat must help lead GemClan to safety, until she learns about an old prophecy…
1. Allegiances

**GEMCLAN**

 **Leader:**

 **Emeraldstar-** green-eyed she-cat with tabby fur

 **Deputy:**

 **Pearlheart-** cream colored she-cat (apprentice Kyanpaw)

 **Medicine cat:**

 **Fadedleaf-** black tom with white paws that look like they are fading

 **Warriors:** _(toms, and she-cats without kits)_

 **Jasperlight-** orange tabby tom

 **Twigfoot-** Brown she-cat with deformed foot

 **Condorwing-** Golden-brown tom

 **Rainpatch-** Dark grey Tom

 **Spidertail-** Dark brown she-cat with black tail

 **Berylclaw-** Orange Tom

 **Kunziteflower-** fluffy albino she-cat with pink eyes

 **Apprentices:** _(more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)_

 **Kyanpaw-** pretty blue-eyed tortoiseshell she-cat

 **Queens:** _(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)_

 **Opalwing-** dark gray she-cat with milky blue eyes (mother to Amberkit, Onyxkit, and Topazkit)

 **Elders** : _(former warriors and queens, now retired)_

 **Tourmalinefur-** ginger she-cat

 **Heliofire-** dark red/black tom

 **Citrinestorm-** yellow eyed tom with brown tabby fur

 **Kits:** _(cats under six moons old)_

 **Amberkit-** spotted tabby she-cat, amber eyes

 **Onyxkit-** black she-cat, brown eyes

 **Topazkit-** black, white pawed tom, blue eyes


	2. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Warriors doesn't belong to me, it belongs to those gazillion Erins.**

It was half-moon and Fadedleaf was experiencing his first medicine cat meeting without his former mentor, Pyritewhisper, who had died from Greencough a quarter-moon ago. The other cats were chattering about cures for different things as he silently led the group into the Mooncave.

The Mooncave entrance was almost directly behind the GemClan camp, and it being filled with many varieties of gemstones led to GemClan's excessive knowledge of the different gem names.

"Here we are," Fadedleaf dully announced to the others as they reached the center of the cave where a large moonstone lay. A large stalactite hung from the roof of the cave, the point pressing directly into the large stone. The medicine cats simultaneously tapped the Moonstone with their noses, immediately falling asleep.

Fadedleaf opened his eyes and saw himself back in camp. A beautiful dark gray she-cat was walking toward him. Fadedleaf gasped. "Pyritewhisper!" He exclaimed as he ran to her quickly. "I've missed you so much!"

She gave him a sweet smile then sighed. "Unfortunately this wouldn't be the most joyful meeting." Pyritewhisper mewed.

Fadedleaf looked at her, surprised. "What? Why?"

Pyritewhisper leaned in closely. "Listen carefully, for I will only say this once. I have a prophecy for you." Fadedleaf's eyes widened, but he stayed silent.

"In the depths of the night, a storm will rise. A trio of cats will band together to save GemClan from destruction; Knowledge, the head, Kindness, the body, and Strength, the claws. One shall shift the path to darker waters as knowledge clears a new path to safety,"

she whispered, her voice not sounding like her own. Pyritewhisper looked up. "It's time for us to part," she mewed, her voice normal once more. Her body began fading and shimmering as Fadedleaf's eyesight began to go black.

"Wait, no!" he exclaimed. "I want to stay here with you!"

Pyritewhisper smiled at him sadly. "Don't worry, Fadedleaf. We'll meet again soon."

Fadedleaf stumbled toward her as his vision went black and he collapsed, awakening back in the Mooncave.

 **Ok Prologue done!**

 **Review please!**


	3. Chapter 1

Amberkit opened her eyes and as soon as the sun hit her she closed them again. She knew what today was… and she was dreading it! Her and her littermates were being named apprentices today. Her mom kept talking about her time as an apprentice: getting up early to go on dawn patrols and training sessions with her mentor. Personally Amberkit would have enjoyed just staying in the warm nursery for her whole life but her mom said that all cats must become apprentices and support their clan. Amberkit wondered how her mom got into the nursery anyway. Did she just stay in there her whole life until she had kits?

Amberkit had just started to doze off again when she woke with a squeak. Her brother, Topazkit's weight was partially on her, as he battered her shoulders with his soft paws. "Get off mousebrain!" she squealed.

"Awww c'mon Amberkit! Come and play with us one last time before we are apprentices! Opalwing says that you have to at least come outside!"

Amberkit kicked him off and curled up into a ball. "Amberkit, you troublesome kit! Get out of that nest right now! I'm going to carry you outside if you don't go right now," Opalwing threatened. Even though she sounded stern Amberkit knew that she was only doing it because she was worried for her.

 _Well quit worrying about me,_ thought Amberkit. _I can do what I like now that I am almost an apprentice!_ With one last mutinous glare at her mother she shuffled out of the nursery and went to go lay in the sun. Her littermates were wrestling underneath the Highbranch, and Amberkit wondered how they found joy in pretending to fight with each other. It all just seemed like a waste of energy. She turned her back to them and stretched lazily.

She decided to take a walk over to the apprentice den to see how cozy the nests were. To her surprise there was only one nest in the den! _That's probably going to be our first job… collecting our OWN bedding. Probably for the elders too,_ she thought grumpily.

Amberkit slunk back to the nursery and plopped down in her nest. There was still some time before her ceremony so she figured that she could pass time by taking a nap. At least it was better than being outside in the hot greenleaf sun. She settled down in her nest and let her eyes slowly drift closed.

"Let all cats in GemClan gather underneath Highbranch for a clan meeting!" Called Emeraldstar. Amberkit frowned and curled up into Opalwings belly.

"I'm not going Opalwing! I don't want to be an apprentice!" she protested. All she could think of was how warm her nest was and how she didn't want to get out of it.

"Go outside Amberkit! You need to become an apprentice and you don't want me to carry you out do you?" Opalwing growled. "Now get that moss out of your fur… you don't need to look like a rogue in front of the whole clan." Amberkit licked her back until all the moss was out and then she cast one last glance at the nursery and walked out of it.

Topazkit and Onyxkit were already sitting underneath Highbranch looking up at Emeraldstar. Amberkit padded over to join them and sat down with a plop. She sighed and wrapped her tail around her paws. "Hey, Amberkit! Are you excited to become and apprentice?"

asked Onyxkit. Amberkit just huffed and scooted over.

"GemClan! Today we are gathered here to name three new apprentices who will go on to become warriors of Gemclan! Topazkit, step forward." Topazkit leaped to his paws and walked up to the Highbranch. He looked like an ant next to a full-grown cat compared to the gigantic tree next to him.

"Topazkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Topazpaw. Your mentor will be Spidertail. I hope Spidertail will pass down all she knows on to you.

"Spidertail, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Heliofire, and you have shown yourself to be brave and loyal. You will be the mentor of Topazpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him." Topazkit walked up to Spidertail and touched noses with her. They stepped to the side to watch the next ceremonies.

"Amberkit step forward!" Amberkit clambered to her paws and gloomily went to stand beside her brother. "Amberkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Amberpaw. You mentor will be Jasperlight. I hope Jasperlight will pass down all he knows to you.

"Jasperlight, you have received excellent training from Citrinestorm, and proven yourself to be a kind and strong cat. You will be mentor of Amberpaw, and I expect you to pass all you know onto her." Amberpaw just stood where she was and waited for Jasperlight to come touch noses with her. When he didn't come, she pawed at the ground impatiently before stalking over to thrust her face into his and then go to sit next to Topazpaw.

"Go sit with your mentor bugbrain!" hissed Topazpaw under his breath. Amberpaw just flicked her tail irritably and stayed put.

"Last but not least, Onyxkit please come forward." Onyxkit slowly padded to sit near Amberpaw. "Onyxkit you have reached the age of six moons and you are ready to be apprenticed. From this day on until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Onxypaw. Your mentor will be Berylclaw. I hope Berylclaw will pass down all he knows to you.

"Berylclaw, you have received excellent training from Tourmalinefur, and proven yourself to be a ambitious and loyal cat. You will be mentor of Onyxpaw and I expect you to pass all you know down to her." Onyxpaw bounded over and touched noses with Berylclaw and the two cats went to sit on the other side of Topazpaw and Spidertail.

The whole clan then started chanting their new names. "Topazpaw! Onyxpaw! Amberpaw!" Opalwing was chanting loudest of all. Emeraldstar dismissed the clan and the three new apprentices followed their mentors.

"Jasperlight? What's up with the bedding in the apprentice den?" Amberpaw asked.

Jasperlight twitched his whiskers and just simply meowed, "You'll see."

Amberpaw huffed and went to see if she could find Kyanpaw. She found her in the medicine den with Fadedleaf getting a thorn out of her paw. "Hi Kyanpaw." Amberpaw mewed.

"Oh hi Amberpaw! It will be good to have other apprentices in the den! It's been lonely all by myself," exclaimed Kyanpaw. Fadedleaf tugged the thorn out and Kyanpaw got up and started walking out of the den.

"Kyanpaw wait! Can I talk to you? In the Apprentice den maybe?" Amberpaw called after her.

"Sure," Kyanpaw agreed. "Let me get something to eat real quick. I'll bring it with me into the den." With that she left and Amberpaw was left alone with Fadedleaf.

"Hello Amberpaw. Are you excited for your new apprentice duties?" he asked.

"Of course not," Amberpaw mewed coolly with a slight tinge of anger in her voice. "I happen to want to _not_ be an apprentice." She stalked out of the medicine den and bolted to where Kyanpaw was sitting just outside of the apprentice den.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Kyanpaw turned her pretty blue eyes to look at Amberpaw.

"Well," Amberpaw paused, hoping what she was about to say wouldn't sound whiny and annoying. "Is it fun being an apprentice? Having to do so many chores and working everyday until your a warrior?" she asked.

"Oh yeah! And it gets better as you get older. You get more privileges and you learn how to do warrior things." Kyanpaw was on her feet now.

Topazpaw came bounding over and plopped down right next to Kyanpaw. He seemed a little too close to her… then Amberpaw realized it! Topazpaw liked Kyanpaw! _Blech_! She thought. Kyanpaw was 3 moons older that them. And how could Topazpaw be thinking about a mate already?

Amberpaw got up to find Jasperlight. Maybe she would give the whole apprentice thing a try. After what Kyanpaw had said, Amberpaw was feeling a slightly more optimistic about her new life.

 **Written by Star, edited by Fawn.**


	4. Chapter 2

Amberpaw looked around at the forest in front of her and her whiskers twitched, showing as much excitement and emotion as she allowed. It was so big! How were they ever going to explore their whole territory today?

Jasperlight padded up beside her and rested his tail on her shoulder. "You ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Amberpaw quickly stepped ahead of him and then stopped, embarrassed, remembering that Jasperlight was supposed to be leading. Jasperlight took the lead and they walked around the camp and into what looked like a meadow. "Where are we Jasperlight?" asked Amberpaw politely.

"This is Ripple Grass meadow. See the long grass over there? When a breeze strikes up the grass looks like it is rippling." Jasperlight took Amberpaw through the meadow and to a thin, trickling stream. "This is our border at the sundown corner. On the other side is Dirtclan. They are supposedly one of our allies.. although Emeraldstar says that no clan should have allies because of the many known betrayals coming from an alliance.

"Anyway," he mewed with a change of subject, "let's follow the stream and we should come the the Mooncave. Its directly behind camp. The medicine cats and leaders are allowed to go there whenever they want. You will go too, before you become a warrior."

Amberpaw sighed and took a sip from the stream. Jasperlight sure knew how to talk. She wondered if that was how he fought. _I hope I never hear a lecture from him!_ she thought.

They were standing at the entrance to the Mooncave and Amberpaw looked up and saw a tall expanse of rock. "So is the Moonstone in there, Jasperlight?" Jasperlight nodded and kept walking.

The rest of the trip was mostly just walking around the borders and learning some important landmarks. The last thing they did was stop by a tree and collect some moss for Amberpaw's bedding. Once they got back to camp Amberpaw went to her den and carefully shaped her moss into a cozy nest. Topazpaw came in just as Amberpaw was leaving.

"Hey Amberpaw! How was your tour of the territory?"Topazpaw asked.

"It was interesting. We saw the Mooncave and the borders with the other two clans. Although I have to say that Jasperlight talks a lot." Topazpaw nodded and told Amberpaw how his tour had went.

Amberpaw went to the fresh-kill pile and picked out a plump mouse. She had never lived through a leafbare. She was born at the end of newleaf, right before greenleaf, so she never knew what it felt like to live through the cold leafbare. She wondered what it would be like. Probably hard to not have prey all the time.

As she bit into her mouse, Kyanpaw padded up to her and sat down beside her. "How's your day been so far Amberpaw?" Kyanpaw mewed through a mouthful of mouse. Amberpaw looked down and saw that Kyanpaw had taken a huge bite out of her mouse while she wasn't paying attention!

"Get your own fresh-kill Kyanpaw!" Amberpaw flicked her with the tip of her tail. "It has been good so far. My paws ache from walking all around the border but other than that, I think I had a good time."

"Hey Amberpaw! Come here a second!" Onyxpaw was calling to her from across the camp. Amberpaw stood up and trotted over to Onyxpaw. She was standing next to a stick that had what looked like something similar to a cats face carved into it.

"Where did you find that, Onyxpaw?"

Onyxpaw shrugged. "It was laying in the stream by the border with Dirtclan. I figured I could keep it as my lucky stick."

Amberpaw rolled her eyes. "Stupid furball. You can't have a lucky stick. Where would you keep it anyways?" Onyxpaw scowled at her, picked up her stick, and walked away.

"Well that went well." Spidertail had walked up behind Amberpaw and listened to their whole conversation.

"Keep your whiskers out of our business Spidertail!" she hissed. Right after the words had come out of her mouth she regretted them. "Sorry Spidertail." Amberpaw looked at the ground and let her tail droop.

"That's okay Amberpaw. I shouldn't have listened to your conversation uninvited." Spidertail licked Amberpaw's ear and went to go find her mate, Rainpatch.

Amberpaw wondered if she could go the the meadow. There was a slight breeze and she wanted to see if the grass really rippled. She decided to ask if Topazpaw wanted to go with her. He was always up for a little adventure. She also wondered if she should ask a warrior first… _nah. They'll just say that my mentor needs to go with me._ She decided to just go find Topazpaw.

"Topazpaw? Do you want to come with me to Ripple Grass meadow? I want to see if the grass really ripples."

Topazpaw hesitated. "Shouldn't we get permission first? I don't want to get in trouble on my first day as an apprentice!"

Amberpaw thought about what he had said and decided that she would tell him that she _had_ asked permission and they were allowed to go for a little while. "I asked. We can go as long as we are back before sunset," Amberpaw lied quickly.

Topazpaw eyed her suspiciously before nodding and following her to the dirtplace entrance. "Why are we going through the dirtplace tunnel?" asked Topazpaw.

"Er… I need to go make dirt before we head to the meadow. Anyway it will put us closer, we won't have to walk all the way around camp." Amberpaw hurried through the tunnel before he could ask any more hard to answer questions.

"It's not that far!" Topazpaw exclaimed as he followed her. Just for accountability reasons Amberpaw made dirt before continuing on to the meadow. Topazpaw ran up ahead of her and signaled with his tail once they were getting close.

As soon as Amberpaw saw the meadow she felt as if nothing else existed. It was so pretty. The grass really did ripple! It would probably look even better from up high. Amberpaw spotted a tall tree on the edge of the meadow and decided she would climb it to get a better view. Topazpaw was looking the other way so Amberpaw figured that she could get up it without Topazpaw and his 'Good judgement' stopping her.

With one last glance at Topazpaw, Amberpaw pelted towards the tree and dug her claws into the soft bark. She used her hind legs to push herself up and she gripped with her claws. She set her eyes on the nearest branch and tried to get a clawhold on it. She managed to drag herself up and sat down on the branch. She drew in her breath sharply. She could see the whole meadow from here! Topazpaw was a small black splotch against the green and golden color of the grass.

Then Amberpaw looked directly below her. She was so high up! She let out a moan. "Topazpaw! Help! I can't get down!" the little she-cat yowled.

Topazpaw turned his head and looked up at Amberpaw. "Amberpaw! I'll go get someone to help you! Don't fall!" He shot across the meadow and soon he was out of sight. Amberpaw dug her claws in even deeper and scrunched up her eyes. Amberpaw wondered what Opalwing would say. She would probably be banned from leaving camp for a moon.

In the distance she heard yowls from her clanmates. They had come to save her! When she opened her eyes she saw Jasperlight, Kunziteflower and Emeraldstar all racing behind Topazpaw. Amberpaw breathed a sigh of relief that Opalwing wasn't there. Her scolding would have to wait until they got back to camp.

Suddenly Amberpaw's claws started to slip and she started to fall backwards off the tree. She scrabbled for a clawhold but she couldn't regain her grip! She felt herself falling through the air and hit the ground with a thud. Then everything went black.

Amberpaw opened her eyes and found herself in a forest filled with tall, dark trees. "Where am I?" she whispered nervously.

"This is the Star-Forest. I am Diamondfeather," a tall, scar-covered, silver she-cat mewed, appearing in front of her. "I am here to see you for an important reason." Amberpaw opened her mouth then closed it, speechless. The little she-cat stared at Diamondfeather's face, suddenly noticing _how_ scared she was. There was a long one starting behind her ear, which ended nearly at her mouth. "You and your littermates have a long journey ahead of you. I have come to give you strength and wisdom. I will appear to you occasionally in some of your dreams from now on." She started to fade and Amberpaw stood there stunned.

 _Does this happen to everyone?_ she thought.

She opened her eyes and found herself in the medicine den. Her head was throbbing, and she could feel a bump behind her ears. Opalwing was sitting next to her gazing at her anxiously. "Oh!" she gasped, "Amberpaw you're awake!" She started covering her in licks.

Amberpaw shook her off and sat up. "Hi Opalwing."

Opalwing looked at her with pure joy before frowning and squeezing her eyes shut. "You scared me almost to death, Amberpaw! What were you and Topazpaw doing sneaking out like that? You could have gotten lost or been found by coyotes or worse… you could have _died_ falling out of that tree! Did you even think before you went out?"

Amberpaw explained to her about how she wanted to see the grass ripple and then she wanted to see it form up high so she climbed the tree. She almost mentioned the dream but then stopped herself.

Fadedleaf told everyone that Amberpaw should stay in the medicine den overnight so he could monitor her just in case she had any shock effects from the fall. Amberpaw decided to go to sleep early because she really wanted to see Diamondfeather. She wondered if she would meet any other cats from Starclan. She hoped so. She really wanted to see Cloudstar.

He was the leader before Emeraldstar. She had never met him, but Opalwing claimed that he was a great leader. She told Amberpaw that he was brave and compassionate and not afraid to defend his territory.

Amberpaw closed her eyes and tried to drift into sleep but the light from the setting sun kept her awake. And her hungry stomach. She went out to get some freshkill and then went back to the medicine den once it was dark.

 _Amberpaw. Amberpaw. You will lead your clan. You will protect your clan from harm._

There was a long pause, then a whisper that Amberpaw suspected she was not meant to hear.

 _...What do I say next? ... Oh._

 _Share this message and the messages to come with no cat besides your littermates. They will be the only cats who will understand. Now wake before the clan suspects something._

Amberpaw woke and found herself not in the medicine den but in the meadow again. She raced back to camp and acted like she had just gone to dirtplace.

"Good morning Amberpaw. Ready for more training?" Jasperlight mewed, appearing from the warriors den. He still had a glaze of sleep in his eyes but was making an obvious effort to be awake. "We are going with your littermates to learn some basic battle moves. I'm sure you would rather train with them than by yourself."

Amberpaw nodded and started grooming her sleep-matted fur. Topazpaw and Onyxpaw were just waking up when Amberpaw finished grooming.

While she was waiting at the entrance, Amberpaw thought about her dream. Onyxpaw and Topazpaw showed no signs of anything strange so she figured that she was the only one of them that had had a dream.

 _So far,_ she quickly added, mentally.

It creeped her out to think that she had sleep walked all the way to the meadow without being seen by any of her clanmates. What else was she capable of doing in her sleep? Fighting? Eating? Climbing trees? She hoped not. She was in enough trouble already with what she did in the daytime without getting into mischief, mischief she didn't even know about, at night.

They were ready to leave for the training cave. Onyxpaw wouldn't stop talking about how she was going to be the best fighter in all of Gemclan. Amberpaw strongly doubted it. Onyxpaw was too nice to inflict serious wounds in battle. She would probably rather lick the wounds rather than give them. For a second Amberpaw wondered if Onyxpaw would be a good medicine cat. Then she thought better of it. The cat in her dream said that they would have to lead their clan to safety…. being a medicine cat surely made you less able to lead a whole clan?

Amberpaw hadn't noticed until now that they had reached the training cave. It was a small hollow space with a large gap in the side, partially covered in tree branches and vines, that let in shafts of light.

Jasperlight went in first and sat down in the middle of the cave with a light yawn. The rest of the cats sat around him in a semicircle. He and Berylclaw demonstrated a beginners move a few times and then called on Amberpaw to come try them. Amberpaw unsheathed her claws, but before she could try the move Berylclaw was looming above her.

He hissed into her ear, "Sheath your claws!" She quickly obeyed and then attempted the move, swiping out her paw at an imaginary enemy. She was too slow and Jasperlight jumped over the top of her and pinned down her tail.

"Try to move a bit faster," he advised. "If you can do that, then you can get in a second hit, and your opponent won't escape from you. Amberpaw huffed grumpily and sat down go watch Topazpaw and Onyxpaw give it a try.

Onyxpaw tripped and flopped over onto a patch of soft, green moss, but Topazpaw did the move perfectly and even added the second paw strike that Jasperlight told Amberpaw about at the end.

"Well done Topazpaw! You are a natural at battling!" Spidertail praised him. Amberpaw just congratulated him and excused herself from the session.

She didn't do the move as well as Topazpaw! And he was born after her! _No fair!_ Amberpaw found herself tearing up the ground in her anger and quickly put it all back in place before going back into the training cave.

Onyxpaw was practicing the move again but this time she was going against Topazpaw. Amberpaw noticed with a start that they both had their claws unsheathed! She figured at first that they probably were just doing that to intimidate each other and they wouldn't really hurt one another. But to her surprise Onyxpaw had a fire in her eyes and she leaped at Topazpaw with her paws outstretched. Amberpaw leaped at her and knocked her to the ground, hitting her already bruised head on the ground. Onyxpaw raked her claws down Amberpaw's muzzle and threw her sister off, who landed roughly a few feet away, dazed. Amberpaw shook her head and looked around for their mentors, but they were talking in hushed voices just outside the cave.

Topazpaw leaped at Onyxpaw and slid under her with his claws skimming her belly. "How dare you question my battle moves! I learned those myself from Spidertail and you can't even do one plain move without tipping over!" he yowled.

Jasperlight turned his head and bolted into the cave. "Topazpaw! Get off of Onyxpaw this instant!" Topazpaw relaxed his grip and Onyxpaw shoved him off of her. "What were you two thinking, fighting with your claws unsheathed? And why are you attacking each other in the first place?"

Topazpaw hissed at Onyxpaw and told the story of what happened to Jasperlight. By then Spidertail and Berylclaw had come in and were listening to the exchange between Topazpaw and Jasperlight.

Amberpaw slunk out of the cave and started walking back to camp, as Onyxpaw began explaining her side of the story, with an occasional shout of "She's lying!" from Topazpaw.

Her muzzle stung where Onyxpaw had scratched her but Amberpaw didn't taste or smell any blood.

When she arrived at camp Kyanpaw was cleaning out the bedding in the nursery. There were no queens or kits in the nursery currently, but they had to keep it ready. There was no need to have dirty, smelly bedding when the next she-cat had to go into the nursery. Amberpaw decided to help Kyanpaw with the bedding, wanting to get her mind off of the fight in the cave.

"Kyanpaw? Can I help?" Kyanpaw nodded and the moss in her mouth bobbed up and down.

Amberpaw went into the nursery and started rolling all of the loose moss into a ball so that it was easier to carry out. One that was done she carried it out and put it by dirtplace. Amberpaw had never cleaned out nests before but it seemed actually pretty easy! Amberpaw came back into camp and this time went to the medicine den to find some moss from Fadedleaf's gigantic stash. Amberpaw wondered how that stuff didn't go bad! He seemed to have had it since she was kitted! Amberpaw got her moss and walked back to the nursery. Kyanpaw was waiting inside for her with some feathers to line the nest.

"Thanks for the help Amberpaw. I would have been working _forever_ if you hadn't offered to help."

Amberpaw twitched her tail in acknowledgement and set her moss down. "No problem! I was bored and figured you could use some help."

They finished shaping the nest and left the den. "Who do you think will have kits next?" asked Kyanpaw out of the blue.

Amberpaw hadn't thought about it much. Then she saw Rainpatch and remembered that Spidertail was his mate. What other pairs of cats were there? Twigfoot was always mooning over Condorwing but he never seemed to notice her. Then there was Topazpaw. He might as well be mates with Kyanpaw, the way he follows her around.

"Amberpaw?" Kyanpaw interrupted Amberpaw's thoughts. Amberpaw had forgotten to answer Kyanpaw's question.

"I think Spidertail. She is the only one who really has a mate right now."

Kyanpaw nodded. "I agree. Although Twigfoot sure is trying hard." They both laughed and then went their separate ways.

Amberpaw scented the hunting patrol returning through the stone tunnel. By the scent of it they had a successful hunt. Amberpaw's belly growled but she ignored it and decided to try to find Jasperlight, if he had returned yet.

Just as she was leaving camp, Fadedleaf came up to her and asked if she would come into his den. Amberpaw nodded and followed him. Before she went in she cast a glance around camp to see who was watching. Even though she was positive she didn't do anything wrong, it felt really weird to be hanging out with the medicine cat.

"What do you want, Fadedleaf?" Amberpaw asked, a bit rudely.

"Amberpaw, I know about the dream with StarClan," he mewed quickly. Amberpaw drew in her breath sharply. How did he know? "I walked in the dream where Diamondfeather spoke to you." It was as if he had read her thoughts.

Amberpaw felt anger boiling up inside her. "How dare you spy on me and my dreams," she growled.

"It wasn't my choice to make," mewed Fadedleaf calmly. If Amberpaw had looked closer, she would have seen hurt in Fadedleaf's sunflower yellow eyes. "StarClan sent me to your dream."

Amberpaw glared at him. "Don't spy on me. Don't spy on any cat. I can find out what this dream means on my own," she hissed.

Fadedleaf flinched and shook his head slowly. "I was trying to help you, little one. But you are welcome to navigate it on your own. Just don't come to me asking for help," he stalked away, shaking his head slowly.

Amberpaw was too proud to feel guilty. She stepped out into the clearing to find Jasperlight.

 **Written by Star, edited by Fawn**


	5. Chapter 3

It had been a couple of sun-rises since Amberpaw had gotten angry at Fadedleaf. She had pretty much gotten over it, but still avoided Fadedleaf.

Onyxpaw and Topazpaw were also avoiding each other like the plague. The two had nests directly next to each other, and Topazpaw asked Amberpaw to switch nests. Amberpaw complied, forgetting that her nest was next to Kyanpaw. Every morning she would wake up to see Topazpaw staring at Kyanpaw.

The apprentices went on their first official patrols, Amberpaw on a hunting patrol, Topazpaw on a border patrol, and Onyxpaw on the other border patrol.

Amberpaw was still an inexperienced hunter, having only learned how the previous sunrise. She crouched down as the rest of the patrol, Jasperlight, Pearlheart, and Condorwing, each took their places around a squirrel that they were trying to hunt. Amberpaw began lightly stalking the squirrel. Suddenly, the squirrel turned around and saw the little she-cat about to pounce. It tried to scurry away as she leaped on it and dug her claws into its bushy tail. The squirrel let out a high pitched squeal and yanked itself away from Amberpaw's sharp claws, missing lots of fur in its tail after. The squirrel ran toward the nearest tree, when Condorwing, true to his name, pounced from a low branch and tackled the squirrel, effectively knocking it out. He neatly slit its throat as the other three cats gathered around him.

Pearlheart nodded at the two. "Good catch," she mewed.

They started to head farther away from the camp to hunt. Condorwing buried his prey and ran to catch up. The patrol spent until sun-high hunting, and ended up with a good amount of prey.

Once they walked into camp and dropped off their prey on the fresh-kill pile, Pearlheart turned to Amberpaw and Jasperlight. "Emeraldstar told me to inform you two that you will be joining us at the gathering tonight, along with your littermates-"

Amberpaw nodded.

"And their mentors," Pearlheart finished.

Amberpaw nodded again and headed into the apprentice den. Only Onyxpaw was there, who was neatly rearranging the moss in her nest.

"How was your border patrol?" Amberpaw asked.

Onyxpaw jumped, surprised. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" she exclaimed.

Amberpaw rolled her eyes. "I didn't sneak up on you- I was actually walking quite loudly. You just weren't paying any attention," she paused. "So, how _was_ your patrol?"

"Fairly good. Nothing happened," Onyxpaw mewed. "I did get a bit wet though, I slipped into the stream. Lucky for me, it was a shallow part."

Amberpaw laughed and then quickly composed herself. "I caught a mouse and helped catch a squirrel," she mewed.

"Good for you then!" Onyxpaw mewed excitedly. She looked down sadly. "I still haven't caught anything." Amberpaw felt a pang of sadness but then pushed it to the side.

"Don't worry," Amberpaw attempted to comfort her awkwardly. "I'm sure you will catch something soon."

"But what if I don't?" Onyxpaw mewed worriedly.

Amberpaw sighed, and refusing to be nice anymore mewed, "If you don't _ever_ catch anything, then you're a horrible hunter and should try doing something else." in her irritation, she didn't notice Onyxpaw gasp in astonishment.

Onyxpaw made eye-contact with Amberpaw and immediately looked away. "Maybe I shouldn't ever talk to you about these things," she mumbled.

Amberpaw nodded. "You really shouldn't." She calmly stepped out of the den.

. . .

It was finally dark, and the Clan was about to head to the gathering. Only a few cats were going to remain in camp, since the majority of the warriors had apprentices. Kyanpaw was only going to show her fellow apprentices around the gathering.

The cats that were going were beginning to gather around the entrance of the camp. Emeraldstar stepped out of her den, speaking rapidly to Pearlheart. Amberpaw turned to look at her, mentally willing him to hurry up. As soon as Emeraldstar saw her staring, she immediately stopped talking and sent a glare at the little tabby as she stepped to the front of her clan to lead them to the gathering. Once the cats noticed their usually silent leader leaving, they quit chattering and quickly followed her.

Amberpaw was one of the first cats to notice Emeraldstar was leaving, and after tapping her fellow apprentices lightly with a claw, began walking behind her leader. It was a short trip to get to the gathering place, even more so for GemClan since they were close to nearly all important landmarks. Amberpaw stepped lightly into the sandy area in front of the gathering clearing.

"Aren't you excited for our first gathering?" Topazpaw whispered.

Amberpaw rolled her eyes. Apparently he didn't know her very well. "I don't get excited," she told him.

Topazpaw gave an over-exaggerated gasp. "Really? I never noticed," he mewed sarcastically. "You need to enjoy life for once," he paused. "In your life."

Amberpaw sighed. "Not happening," she mewed as they stepped into the clearing.

GemClan was the second clan to arrive. First was their greatest enemies, ScorchClan. To Amberpaw and her littermates, ScorchClan wasn't just the clan that fought constantly with GemClan over land, they were the cats that killed Opalwing's mate and their father.

Amberpaw took a deep breath. _This is a gathering,_ she thought. _It doesn't matter that we're enemies. Here, we aren't._

"Follow me," instructed Kyanpaw to the three littermates. She began to walk toward a group of ScorchClan apprentices. "Please don't insult them," Kyanpaw mewed, turning to the little trio. "I'm talking to you Amberpaw." Amberpaw rolled her eyes as they padded over.

A large, russet-furred apprentice was speaking to two younger, smaller cats. The older cat glanced over and saw Kyanpaw. "Greetings," he mewed politely in a deep voice. "New apprentices?"

"Yes, Combustpaw," she replied while dipping her head slightly. "This is Amberpaw, Onyxpaw, and Topazpaw."

"Congratulations!" exclaimed Combustpaw. "We have new apprentices too, Lavapaw and Magmapaw."

Kyanpaw looked around. "Where's Charpaw?" she asked.

Combustpaw pointed his tail to the edge of the clearing. "She's waiting for the other clans to arrive," he squinted at the area she was in. "It appears that DirtClan has arrived."

A young cat from DirtClan began mewing to Charpaw whose skin slightly reddened underneath her fur for a moment as she glanced Combustpaw, before she started shaking her head violently.

The little group of apprentices heard a voice from a warrior. "RockClan is here!" more cats wove their way in among the other three clans.

A moment after, they heard a familiar yowl. "Everybody gather around!" Emeraldstar mewed loudly. Her emerald eyes sent a slight glare at Amberpaw who pretended to ignore her while wondering why Emeraldstar was angry with her.

Amberpaw zoned out the leaders, who were talking about the great amounts of prey that they had. She could tell they were all lying, because once as a kit she had heard stories about the little prey found in leaf-bare. Her own clan was beginning to run out of prey, and while it was slowly, there was less prey to be found and caught during every hunting patrol.

Amberpaw snapped out of it when she heard gasps and growls on one side of the clearing. She pushed through the crowd to see what was going on.

A small white-gray she-cat was standing there. She was smaller than the average apprentice, but from the expression on her face Amberpaw could tell that she was definitely older.

"Nova, you mousebrain," the cat muttered. "Great timing to have me hunt in the clearing." She looked up, and seeing the leaders perched in the tree, the cat groaned and was about to turn around when a cat attempted to pounce on her.

"Hailpaw!" Smoothstar, the RockClan leader, shouted. "This is the gathering! Do not attack anyone!"

The little cat had easily dodged Hailpaw and had crossly swiped him, claws sheathed, in the ears.

The apprentice scurried back into the crowd while protesting that the truce was "Meant for clan cats and not rouge kits."

"I apologize," Smoothstar mewed. "We did not expect a young kit to show up during the gathering."

The cat rolled her dark, reddish eyes. "I'm not a kitten," she defended herself.

They suddenly heard a shout from the direction the cat had come from. "Rio! Where are you?" The cat—Rio turned around and walked toward the voice. A cat, quite a bit larger than Rio appeared from behind a bush.

"Nova…" Rio grumbled. "I'm over here!" she announced loudly.

"Oh, thank goodness Rio." Nova mewed. "I was worried you had gotten lost again."

Rio shook her head. "That was one time, and it was six moons ago!"

"It still happened," argued Nova, the black cat's ears twitching.

Rio shook her furry head. "Let's go now, Nova, before we spark some kind of a fight with," she paused, looking at the clans who were still staring at them, "the clans."

The two rogues walked away, still quietly arguing about whether Rio wouldn't get lost anymore.

Four slightly confused leaders turned back to their clans.

"Shall we continue?" asked Emeraldstar. She began once the other three leaders had nodded. "GemClan has three new apprentices, Topazpaw, Amberpaw, and Onyxpaw."

The clans began cheering their names, "Topazpaw! Amberpaw! Onyxpaw!" Topazpaw was basking in the attention, while Onyxpaw was trying to hide behind a larger cat. Amberpaw merely sat where she was and stared forwards, expressionless.

Emberstar announced the new ScorchClan apprentices. Almost all cats in the clearing joined in chanting for the new apprentices, but Amberpaw stayed quiet. She prefered not to have to raise her time passed quickly, and before Amberpaw knew it, they were walking back to camp.

Jasperlight was walking next to her. "What did you think of your first gathering?" he asked.

Amberpaw's tail twitched. "The rouges' interruption was more—" she paused, trying to think of a way to describe it, "interesting than the actual gathering."

She looked up innocently. "Do all clan leaders lie about their prey?"

Jasperlight visibly winced. "We do it so we appear stronger to the other clans."

Amberpaw blinked, confused. "If I could tell that every leader was lying about that, wouldn't the other warriors know, too?"

Jasperlight shook his head firmly, letting his fur ripple in the wind. "Even if they did know, they would have no argument against us because of it since they do the same thing," he told her.

Amberpaw nodded and slowed down her pace to match her littermates. The two cats were chattering excitedly about what had happened at the gathering.

"Amberpaw!" shouted Topazpaw, "Can you believe that we saw two rogues at a _gathering_!"

Amberpaw internally rolled her eyes at the statement. Why did they still have to act like kits? "It happened," she mewed shortly. "I believe it."

The clan arrived back at camp. It was late, and they all went to their dens. Amberpaw almost immediately dropped off to sleep, along with her littermates.

 **Written by Fawn, edited by Star**


End file.
